1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording and reproducing system suitable for use as, for example, a system for recording and reproducing information in a plurality of channels.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Two methods are available for broadcast stations that have a plurality of transmission channels to reproduce materials of relatively short broadcast times, such as commercials, among the various programs that are broadcast in the transmission channels.
According to one method, materials such as commercials are recorded on respective tapes such as video tape cassettes in the order in which they are to be transmitted for broadcast in the channels, producing pre-recorded video tape cassettes, and thereafter the materials recorded on the video tape cassettes are reproduced by video tape recorders (VTRs) corresponding to the respective channels.
The other method employs as many systems called multicassette systems or cart machines as the number of channels, and recorded materials such as commercials are directly reproduced at random by the multicassette systems or cart machines in the order in which they are to be transmitted for broadcast in the channels.
Each of the systems called multicassette systems or cart machines comprises a recorder/reproducer for recording video and audio signals supplied from an external source and reproducing recorded video and audio signals, a shelf, a plurality of video tape cassettes stored on the shelf, a controller for retrieving a desired video tape cassette from the shelf based on an external control signal representing transmission information, for example, and controlling the recorder/reproducer to record and reproduce video and audio signals according to an external control signal, and a mechanism controllable by the controller for removing desired video tape cassette from the shelf and loading the removed video tape cassette inot the recorder/reproducer.
Generally, a list of broadcasts to be transmitted is generated using a work station, a personal computer, or the like, and the desired materials are reproduced in the order in which they are to be transmitted for broadcast, by the cart machine or multicassette system according to the list of broadcasts.
The applicant has previously proposed a cart machine for dubbing a material which has been recorded on a video tape cassette to another video tape cassette when a recorder and a reproducer are not in use (see Japanese laid-open patent publication No. 3-278732).
The above methods have posed the following problems:
In the former method, the video and audio signals of various commercials are recorded on a single video tape cassette corresponding to a channel, and then reproduced by a VTR corresponding to the channel when the commercials are to be actually transmitted for broadcast. Such a complex process of recording the video and audio signals of various commercials are recorded on a single video tape cassette in the order in which they are to be transmitted for broadcast has to be carried out manually. Since the video and audio signals of various commercials are already recorded on the video tape cassette, they will be useless if the order in which they are to be transmitted for broadcast is changed immediately before they are broadcast.
The latter method is required to have a very expensive overall system because each of the channels has to be equipped with a cart machine. Furthermore, if the video and audio signals of one commerial are to be broadcast in a plurality of channels, then a lot of preparatory work will be necessary because the video and audio signals of the same commercial have to be recorded in the respective cart machines corresponding to the channels.